ODU Schedules Down to Move Up

ODU scheduled games against, shall we say, more manageable opponents in advance of its CAA schedule. Duquesne and Campbell play scaled-back FCS-level football. The Monarchs’ other non-conference game, Hampton, provided a built-in regional rivalry that’s attractive to fans.

“The first couple years (were) just to get in a position where we could compete and play some teams we thought we could be competitive with,” Monarchs coach Bobby Wilder said of the program getting off the ground in 2009 and ’10.

After that, Wilder said, the aim was to get to the playoffs. Given the strength of the CAA, he said it made more sense to schedule non-conference games in which the Monarchs had a better chance to win, to improve the overall record and to help offset a league loss or two that’s practically inevitable.

“I think any head coach who’s being honest with you would tell you that as soon as you ‘schedule up’ for the money, you’re scheduling a loss,” Wilder said. “There are rare occasions where you’ll see an FCS team pull off a shocker. … When you schedule up, you’re doing it for money. Some coaches may say, ‘Hey, it’s the experience for the kids’ and all that nice stuff that you say to cover your administration. But you’re really doing it because you’re paying bills. That’s why you’re playing that game. We didn’t feel like it was something that would help our program, particularly early on.”

ODU and Delaware are the only CAA schools that don’t play a Bowl Subdivision team this season. Teams schedule FBS opponents a little more and less ambitiously. Villanova played Temple, and Rhode Island will play Bowling Green. At the other end of the spectrum, James Madison plays West Virginia at FedEx Field this Saturday, Towson goes to LSU later this month (in addition to its opener at Kent State), and Georgia State played at Tennessee.

William and Mary (Maryland), Richmond (Virginia), New Hampshire (Minnesota) and Maine (Boston College) also “played up” this season.

Wilder said he believed that ODU’s schedulding decisions paid off last season. The ‘Narchs went 3-0 in their non-conference games and 6-2 in the league, which got them into the playoffs and earned a home playoff game.

Conversely, he pointed out, Delaware finished 7-4 last season and didn’t make the playoffs, while JMU finished 7-4 and went to postseason. The Blue Hens defeated league champ Towson and ODU (which tied for second), but were done in by a loss to FBS Navy and a win over Division II West Chester, which the playoff selection committee didn’t count – thus making them essentially 6-4.

The CAA has a pretty good track record against FBS opponents, winning 17 games in the past decade. New Hampshire won five of those games, Villanova three. JMU famously knocked off nationally ranked Virginia Tech in 2010. William and Mary bounced Virginia in 2009, which served as a springboard to the playoffs.

CAA teams have lost all seven games to FBS opponents so far this season. Only William and Mary came close to winning, in a 7-6 loss at Maryland.

Wilder doesn’t dismiss the idea of “scheduling up” and playing FBS opponents. He simply believes that the drawbacks can outweigh the benefits. He was on the staff at Maine in 2004 when the Black Bears won at Mississippi State, and collected a $400,000 check. But he said they also lost four starters in that game from a team that he thought could contend for the national championship. They never quite recovered and finished 5-6.

Wilder joked that ODU’s schedule will change “drastically” next year, as the program begins a two-year transition into Conference USA and FBS.

“I promise you there’ll be more than one FBS (team) on the schedule next year,” he said. “I haven’t seen the schedule, but I’m giving an educated guess.”